The Trump shadow presidency forces Biden further into the background

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes the stage before he speaks at the FOX Nation Patriot Awards on Dec. 5, 2024, in Greenvale, N.Y. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Not waiting until the official swearing-in, Donald Trump has already begun to exert his influence over U.S. foreign policy as president-elect.

Threatening tariffs on America’s largest trading partners; attending the re-opening of the historic Notre Dame cathedral in Paris; and even threatening Hamas directly with the release of hostages, or else. The incoming president is making his presence known in ways big and small, all of which are overshadowing the current commander-in-chief.

Elon Musk, carrying his son, leaves after a meeting with members of congress to discuss U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's planned Department of Government Efficiency on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Taking calls with foreign leaders and dispatching Elon Musk as his emissary with global dignitaries and business leaders, Trump is once again taking the nation to the great unknown as he is now operating as the de-facto president.

Always one to take up space and never cede the foreground, Trump is shaping the geopolitical landscape and global markets are reacting to the moves being made by the mercurial leader.

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From his most recent warning of 100 per cent tariffs on the BRICS nations, to his constant bromides of mass deportations, quickly and surreptitiously presidents, prime ministers, and chancellors have moved on from the Biden administration and begun bracing for an America first agenda.

Case in point, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already begun engaging with the soon-to-be 47th president even as the current White House is still feverishly and aggressively hoping to find daylight between Hamas and Israel on the remaining hostages. In fact, Trump’s initial shadow moves are now being made openly to tremendous aplomb.

File photo of Donald Trump meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate on July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Perhaps equally confounding as the duality of presidencies is the little-to-no resistance at all from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue over the blatant encroachment. In typical Trumpian fashion, the incoming president prematurely announced a deal on immigration after a phone call with Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum.

Yet, President Joe Biden's executive order on immigration is what led to dramatically reduced illegal border crossings even prior to the November election. In fact, many of the challenges Trump plans to tackle, including inflation and illegal immigration are, in fact, already being addressed by the current administration.

Yet Trump, ever the master marketer, is always on the lookout for the next great crisis to solve and the captivating storyline to sell it to his adoring MAGA base, as well as an all-too eager press corp wishing to stay in his good graces.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration recently provided nearly US$400 million in military aid to Taiwan to serve as a bulwark against China. Japan, which has stepped up its defence production and military capabilities, is now considering greater cooperation with AUKUS, the military regional trilateral made up of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, to bolster greater security in the Indo-Pacific.

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Moreover, at home, many manufacturing and infrastructure projects come online in the next one-to-two years; just in time for Trump naturally (not Biden) to take credit. These are historic and inflation-busting efforts that an overwhelming number of MAGA lawmakers both railed and voted against.

Still, it is Trump’s economically disastrous mass deportations; inflation-inducing tariffs; and hard-line and antagonistic truculence that has America’s most stalwart allies and partners on edge.

Friends and neighbours are now caught in the crosshairs with no choice; no option but to turn their respective economic firepower right back on the United States. Certain mutually-assured destruction for no other reason than to assuage a maniacal thirst for chaos and mayhem.

Ironically, as the next four-to-six weeks play out, the roles have been reversed. Quiet, steady, and laborious gains evinced without any fanfare juxtaposed by boastful, raucous, and outsized rhetoric. A reversal that in many ways began long before the presidential election outcome in November.

Still, a reversal that in many ways catapulted Trump back to power, all the while seeing President Biden, Vice-President Harris and their political party ignominiously ushered out of power.

U.S. President Joe Biden greets people as he holds hands with his grandson Beau as they walk in downtown Nantucket Mass. on Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

One president cedes power prematurely while the incoming president, like the proverbial bull in the china shop, is telegraphing his time is now. Daily reminders with every social media post. Ubiquitous machinations that invoke trembling and trepidation. Nihilistic diatribes meant to induce cowering and fear. Trump’s domination of the political landscape cemented. His grip; his control; his hold; exacting.

President-elect Trump’s four-year long battle to retake power ended with the levers, the safeguards, checks and balances depressed, demoralized, and destitute. The oath of office now pro forma. The transition, an empty formality. The certification process, merely whimsical stagecraft.

Trump’s return to power has already begun, his place atop the political hierarchy complete. Perhaps to the surprise of no one, least of all MAGA, he actually never left. His shadow presidency merely a prelude to an America First ethos that is now firmly entrenched throughout every aspect of national power.

A presidency no longer operating in the hidden crevices far away from Washington but one that is now operating in public view. Overshadowing every lever of power, every tool of influence, every button of might. Cajoling, forcing, owning the space and making it his own. Forcing the president himself (Biden) into the background; deep into the shadows.

Eric Ham is a bestselling author and former congressional staffer in the U.S. Congress. He served as a contributor to TheHill.com and The Washington Diplomat. He resides in Washington, DC.